U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers apprehended a Mexican citizen on Friday who is wanted in Texas for sexual assault of a young girl. The fugitive Mexican national has an outstanding warrant for sexual-assault-continuous sexual abuse of a victim under the age of 14 years. The man attempted to enter the U.S. while traveling on a commercial bus.
Forty-one-year-old Martin Gerardo Perez Garcia tried to re-enter the country at the Texas-Mexican border through the Laredo Port of Entry.
Dallas County Sheriff’s Office previously filed a warrant for Perez Garcia’s arrest following the allegations of sexual assault and continuous sexual abuse of a young girl. U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered the warrant utilizing their law enforcement databases. Officers also confirmed it through biometric verification searches.
Officers apprehended Perez Garcia at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge.
“Our CBP officers are committed to the CBP mission, and one of their responsibilities is to identify fugitives at our ports of entry and returning them to face justice for the crimes they have committed,” said Port Director Albert Flores, Laredo Port of Entry.
“When we encounter persons wanted by other law enforcement agencies, we verify the warrant and then carry out the appropriate law enforcement action.”
This is not an uncommon situation for CBP officers.
On January 28, CBP officers in Laredo apprehended a U.S. citizen attempting to enter Texas via the Laredo Port of Entry by bus. A records check on 67-year-old Gabriel Galvan Rodriguez revealed the man had an outstanding warrant from Marion County, Oregon, according to information obtained from CBP officials by Breitbart Texas. A court in Marion County issues the warrant for charges of sexual abuse, officials stated. CBP officers turned the man over to Webb County Sheriff’s Office deputies who transported him to the county jail pending extradition proceedings.
In April 2017, CPB officers arrested a 48-year-old Mexican national attempting to flee prosecution in Oregon by absconding to Mexico, Breitbart Texas reported. Officers arrested Santiago Flores-Martinez, a previously deported criminal alien, at the San Ysidro port of entry after learning of a warrant from Clackamas County, Oregon. After his return to Oregon, a jury convicted Flores-Martinez on the charge of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl. Immigration officials previously deported the man in 2001.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday.
According to a report by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) entitled “Texas Criminal Alien Arrest Data,” 6,951 criminal aliens have been booked into Texas jails for sexual assault charges between June 1, 2011, and January 31, 2018. Of those, 3,207 have been convicted.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Gab, and Facebook.
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